Comments on: Sign Our Petition & Help Support Our Rails-With-Trails Resolution

By: BikePortland.org » Blog Archive » How ’bout some trails with those high-speed rails?

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 21:58:07 +0000

[...] emails from people who are finally realizing what’s going on.” At VABike.org, Burnley has posted a Rails with Trails Petition that has already been signed by a long list of regional and national bike advocacy [...]

By: Melinda J G Hyman

Melinda J G Hyman — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 00:50:04 +0000

The Emanuel Freeman Family has owned property in the Halifax Va area for over 110 years. This Historical and influential family has been established with a name and legacy Our great great grandfather was Emanuel Freeman Sr.The Freeman family would love to be included in having the Rail To Trails connected through our property for the bike trails located in a land lock position in Halifax Va next to the Historical Clarkston bridge. We also want to be involed with the Heritage Tourismn site on the Dan river where our property is also.We own property right next to the Clarkston Plantation and the beautiful Clarkston bridge.The Clark family and the Freeman family have been neighbors for yearsThe history of the Freeman Family is extensive and our affluential family has owned sucessful businesses for over 110 years in Halifax Va. Today The Freeman Family owns a Farm with the Freeman historical legacy attached.We look forward to working with this program and many future endeavors.

By: NJ Club Joins Rails With Trails Effort | Virginia Bicycling Federation

NJ Club Joins Rails With Trails Effort | Virginia Bicycling Federation — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:37:25 +0000

[...] the Morris Area Freewheelers, a northern New Jersey bike club, has signed on to support the VBF’s Rails With Trails resolution and efforts to require inclusion of bike and pedestrian facilities on rail enhancement [...]

By: VA Seeks $590 Million in Rail Improvements – Where are the Trails? | Virginia Bicycling Federation

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:57:24 +0000

[...] and downtown, there is no mention of bike-ped access either across or along the new rail line. Rails with trails can provide important connections both within, and between, our [...]

By: Champe Burnley

Champe Burnley — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:46:50 +0000

Clay,

There is very active north-south, CSX, rail corridor in Central VA with 30+ trains per day. This corridor runs through the middle of Ashland, VA along Center Street. The tracks are literally 40 inches from the street.

I can’t say how your children will react but I can tell you this; when I see children walking down the sidewalk in Ashland as a train passes through, the usual reaction is complete fascination and glee. (And the little ones aren’t the only ones smiling!)

The good news is that you can hear the trains coming a long way off so I think a parent has time to prepare their little ones. (Best of all, the trains are normally gone in 3 or 4 minutes and it’s back to peace and tranquility. So 95% of the time, this is a non-issue.)

As far as your second question, you make a great point; there are clearly shared benefits and savings from shared engineering, environmenatl impact analysis, acquiring land, shared legal costs, concurrent construction, etc. by combining the rail and trail projects at the same time. Though I don’t know the exact percentage saved, I’m sure the savings are significant.

Though it hasn’t been mentioned, by building rails with trails along these corridors, the railroads also benefit by getting, essentially, a free access road they can use to work on and maintain their rails. Yet another reason we all benefit by these projects.

By: Clay Nichols

Clay Nichols — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:29:44 +0000

INCREMENTAL COST ?

Any idea of the incremental cost of adding a rail-trail whilst working on the adjacent track?

I think it would be valuable “ammo” for the legislators to have that as a cost compared to constructing a trail independently. E.g., if you can show that such a trail costs 1/2 as much that’s a pretty big efficiency. An argument for “if you’re ever going to do it, do it NOW”. Even with the cost of borrowing the money from future generations, that 50% (hypothetical) discount pays for 10 years of interest. AND we get to use the trail 10 years sooner.

By: Clay Nichols

Clay Nichols — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:26:51 +0000

IS TRAIN NOISE A DETERRENT?
I’ve never ridden on a rail-trail but I wonder whether the train noise would discourage recreational riding. For example, that might freak out at least one of my kids (all under 9).

Anyone have experience on this or any quantification of how much recreational use such trails get. (My google-fu failed to find any info on this).